COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

Regarding Sacred Objects and Herbs

A Community Talk
Sponsored by UCLA Latin American Institute

featuring
Ysamur Flores Peña and Felicia Montes.

April 14th, 2017, 6pm
Rsvp @ Ave50studio@sbcglobal.net

A little bit more….

Ysamur Flores Peña is a well-respected elder and keeper of the traditions Lucumi. He has received a Ph.D in folklore from UCLA, a MA in Education from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and a BA in Hispanic Studies from the University of Puerto Rico. His studies have focused on African-based religions in the New World. He grew up in the Lucumi tradition, both of his parents were consecrated priests. Early in his life, he established a clear understanding of ritual, ceremony and celebration based upon the religious calendar year, in which he would prepare altars, sacred spaces and cooking diverse foods associated with specific Orishas. He cites his mother to clarify the centrality of this tradition, “Cooking is an intrical part of the tradition, its art, its culture, but above all, prayer.”

Felicia Montes is a Xicana Indigenous artist, activist, academic, community and event organizer, educator, designer, poet, performer and professor living and working in the Los Angeles area. She believes art is a tool for education, empowerment and transformation and has translated her passion for art and social justice as co-founder and coordinating member of two groundbreaking creative women’s collectives, Mujeres de Maiz and In Lak Ech.

Avenue 50 Studio and the UCLA Latin American Institute present:

Decolonize Your Diet​: Plant-Based Recipes for Health and Healing​

Book Reading and Signing with Luz Calvo and Catriona R. Esquibel

One symptom of accepting colonization is adhering to the typical American Diet, even while it is killing us. —Devon Abbott Mihesuah (Choctaw)

More than just a cookbook, Decolonize Your Diet redefines what is meant by “traditional” Mexican food by reaching back through hundreds of years of history to reclaim heritage crops as a source of protection from ​diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers​.

​Authors Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel are life partners. When Luz was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006,​ ​they undertook extensive research to find the healthiest way to eat. As a result of their research, ​​Luz and Catriona promote a diet that is rich in plants indigenous to the Americas​ such as corn, beans, squash, chiles, herbs, and seeds. ​They argue against the false belief that Mexican food is unhealthy; instead they reclaim the wisdom of the abuel@s and teach their readers to prepare life-affirming, delicious Mexican meals from scratch.
​
Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel are professors at California State East Bay and San Francisco State University, respectively. The pair raise chickens and grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs on their small urban farm in Oakland, CA.

Book reading: Friday March 18, 2016 from 6-8 pm

To Tell a Story…V2

2 Session Workshop + Lectures
with Mercedes Gertz

“Who in the world am I? That’s the great puzzle.” – Lewis Carroll

To Tell a Story… V.2 is a two session, dialogue-based workshop on identifying with an archetype, and using it for the construction of a story/tale. We will focus on tales that have a beginning, middle, and end. The workshop will guide participants through drawings, words, or other alternative modes of expression to discover and understand the importance of their own personal narratives.
By addressing the anxieties of the current moment, we will revision our own folktales and recontextualize them for modern times.

Through these revisioned fairy tales, it is my hope that participants will discover that their personal stories, unique as they are, are essentially not much different from the tales they’ve inherited from their ancestors. Fairy tales, folklore, and fables all draw from the unconscious and are transgenerational, even delving into the territory of dreams, archetypal forces, and complexes.

Folklore is a tool to teach us about who we are. While working to discover the origin of fairy tales, we simultaneously discover the fairy tales of our own origins.

Session 1

We will share our favorite stories, and introduce the character in its environment.

Session 2

Sunday, June 12 at 2 PM – 4 PM
Freudian and Jungian concepts of visiting the unconscious.
Once archetype has been defined, we will give it a voice so that it may tell a story.

About the Instructor:

In 1990 Mercedes Gertz received her bachelor¹s degree from Parson’s School of Design in New York. In 1993, she co-founded the foundation Aprendiendo a Traves del Arte or Learning Through Art, which is a children’s art education program initiated by the Guggenheim Museum NY, for schools in Mexico City. Since then, she has continued working in art
and education up to this day.

In 1998 Gertz was granted the FONCA grant (Fondo Nacional para La Cultura y las Artes Mexico), and in 2001 obtained a Masters of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design. She has been designing and coordinating art workshops created for children and adults. Currently, Gertz is pursuing a PhD in the study of Depth Psychology at the Pacifica Graduate
Institute. Where she is focusing in the study of the importance of fairy tales and dreams. Gertz’s artwork has been exhibited in Mexico, the United States and Europe.

Cost: $20.00/person
Held at Avenue 50 Studio.

Fiber Arts Institute and Avenue 50 Studio present

Silk Dyeing Workshop

Teacher: Connie Rohman

Learn how to dye silk the easy way, with Colorhue silk dyes. These non-toxic dyes are used on silk, wool and other protein fibers. Colorhue dyes are instant-set: no steaming required. These dyeing methods can be used to dye silk clothing, yardage, or scarves.

In this workshop, we will demonstrate the following dyeing techniques: shibori, pleating, scrunching and spritzing, and clamping. Found materials will also be used to create more surface designs. Color mixing will be discussed and demonstrated.

Using the dyeing techniques of their choice, each student will have the opportunity to dye three 100% Habotai silk scarves, which they will take home with them. (Extra blank silk scarves will be available for purchase.)

September 13th, 20th and 27th

To Tell a Story…

3 Session Workshop + Lectures
Led by **Mercedes Gertz**

“fairy tales address great existential mysteries” – Maria Tatar

Where do fairytales come from? In the 19th century, anthropologist Adolf Bastian proposed that all basic mythological motifs stem from the elementary thoughts of mankind – meaning that these mythologies do not necessarily migrate, but rather are inborn within each individual. This idea supported a Jungian view of the archetype – that it embodies the realm of “elementary emotions” or an “elementary impulse.”

For example, one of the most important stories in Mexican culture is that of La Llorona, which follows the archetype of the spurned, grieving woman who seeks revenge on her lover through the murder of her own children. Stories of the same archetype have been linked to many cultures around the world, such as the Greek myth of Medea, and even splinter into different versions from other countries. Archetypes repeat themselves throughout history and in many different places around the world, and as such, belong to all people.

To Tell a Story… is a three session, dialogue-based workshop on identifying with an archetype, and using it for the construction of a story/tale. We will focus on tales that have a beginning, middle, and end. The workshop will guide participants through drawings, words, or other alternative modes of expression to discover and understand the importance of their own personal narratives. By addressing the anxieties of the current moment, we will revision our own folktales and recontextualize them for modern times.

Through these revisioned fairy tales, it is my hope that participants will discover that their personal stories, unique as they are, are essentially not much different from the tales they’ve inherited from their ancestors. Fairy tales, folklore, and fables all draw from the unconscious and are transgenerational, even delving into the territory of dreams, archetypal forces, and complexes.

Folklore is a tool to teach us about who we are. While working to discover the origin of fairy tales, we simultaneously discover the fairy tales of our own origins.

**Session 1 – The Beginning**
Origins of fairy tales / their psychological importance / material of the unconscious.
We will share our favorite stories, and introduce the character in its environment.

**Session 2 – The Middle**
Shadow material as challenge / Freudian and Jungian ideas on dreams.
We will present a dream & discover its poetic meaning. Focus on identification and elaboration of the problem / obstacle in our narrative – the adventure.

It has long been known that the art-making process is therapeutic. “There’s No Story Greater” is a free 5-week process workshop series, open to the community of Highland Park and the greater Northeast LA area and beyond. The “There’s No Story Greater” project believes that there is no story of greater worth than your own. The project seeks to use oral storytelling, music, movement, personal artifacts, ritual, and other creative exercises to process, discover, and write our lived experience in a supportive and healing community.

The purpose of this project is to provide a new opportunity for those in the community, to tell their stories. It’s through the process of these new opportunities that we hope to encourage the members of the community to gain a newfound sense of self, leading to empowerment.

•••••••

WORKSHOPS

Though it’s encouraged, you don’t have to attend all of the classes.

August 2: Taller Espejo Voz – Facilitated by Gloria Enedina Alvarez

August 9: Embodied Narratives – Facilitated by Zoë Etkin

August 16: A Conversation in Letters, with Our Emotional Pain – Facilitated by Jessica Ceballos

FREE but YOU MUST REGISTER for each workshop you plan to attend. HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/theres-no-story-greater-workshop-series-tickets-17987359677

Saturday July 18 2015

The Ragdoll Project

in collaboration with Avenue 50 Studio

invites you to The Ragdoll Project & Our Community:
general workshop and information session for professionals working with children.

Sunday July 18th, 2015

11 am – 4pm

(1:30 break for snacks)

$10 rsvp & materials fee

The Ragdoll Project is a unique process that combines doll making with writing and other art forms to facilitate individual and community healing. Through this unique process, participants transform their personal stories which have been impacted by life transitions and trauma into empowering narratives that can be utilized as tools to develop and strengthen social emotional skills needed to foster healthy life choices.

The first half of the day will be devoted to experiencing the general Ragdoll Workshop, then after a quick snack break we’ll return to the session to learn about Our Community, a ragdoll workshop project for children of all ages. In this segment of the infomratoon session you’ll learn how you can become a trained facilitator. Our Community workshops are designed for children who have experienced community violence and socioeconomic inequality. The workshop promotes increased self-esteem, while decreasing self-judgment, and strengthening communication and decision-making skills.

Classical Guitar

Join us every Friday(12pm-1pm) and Sunday (11pm-12pm) as we learn important guitar techniques, learn to read music, and ultimately, learn to play beautiful music.

José Vasquez has taught beginning to intermediate level guitar for over 10 years, focusing on Carcassi studies, Giuliani 120 open string exercise, Segovia Diatonic Major and minor scales, and a few folk songs. He prides himself on teaching technique, which is essential in classical music.

This is a FREE five-week class on Mexican paper cutting, known as papel picado. Students will learn how to cut this traditional folk art on tissue paper to create banners that can be used as decorations for festive events or on altars. A brief history of papel picado will also be discussed. All supplies will be provided and no previous art experience is necessary.

Margaret Sosa has been working as a paper cutter in the Mexican style known as papel picado for over 25 years. She learned the art form from master paper cutter, Olga Ponce Furginson, serving as her apprentice for many years. To further her skills, she traveled with Olga to Mexico to meet Mexican papel picado artists. Margaret’s work has been exhibited galleries and museums throughout the Los Angeles area and as far away as Glasgow Scotland. She has received countless commissions for her work and several master artist grants to teach papel picado. She has taught children and adults of all ages. Margaret worked for over ten years at Self Help Graphics in East Los Angeles and was inspired by the artists there to study art. Margaret is a graduate of California State University Los Angeles, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art. Her sister Josie Alarcón has now joined her and the two work together providing workshops and cutting paper.

Margaret lives in Los Angeles with her husband, she has five children and ten grandchildren.

SIN TURISTASPHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS

Workshop begins Monday 05.04.15 and will include 9 sessions meeting at Avenue 50 Studio on Monday at 6:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 10:00am

Get an introduction to the functions on your digital camera and practice using them in challenge assignments. We will discuss composition, lighting and the visual language in this (9) week workshop.

Space is limited so please sign up soon and let us know your availability so we can schedule session dates to accommodate all participants. Final schedule is released approximately 1 week before start. Financial assistance is available from discounts to a full waiver. please write us and explain your situation.

Join us for a screening of flag wars, a film about gentrification and the lives it affects
with opening remarks by professor dana collins, phd

flag wars
tonights movie was shot over four year period in colombus, ohio. the 90 minute film documents the economic competition between two historically oppressed groups as they play out their roles in the gentrification process.

dana collins
professor collins has been studying gentrification since 2000 in manila, phillipines. her understanding of gentrification takes on a global perspective that sometimes looks at lgtb issues within this economic process. as a sociologist and cypress park resident she joined sin turistas as one of its original photographers to document and express highland park.

sin turistas workshops & collective with avenue 50 studio would like to invite you to the next open photo critique. come to share your digital projection of a photography project or comment and discuss other photographer’s work.

street photography is the most challenging of photographic exercises. this 9 session workshop will build skills and confidence in the streets. we’ll be travelling across the city by train and on foot. we will visit 4-5 very unique areas of los angeles as well as highland park and explore them from a street level view. define your images and style in this a pure shooting and critiquing workshop. john urquiza artist, educator and editor of photography will discuss techniques and offer exercises to practise. urquiza also discusses the role of the photographer and the emotions that shape our ideas and photography.

urquiza on street photography

“the decisive moment’ as cartier-bresson describes and that which photographers seek is no mystery. we are surrounded by time, it is an endless river that cascades around us and so deafening we’ve lost sight of how to listen. the street photographer should not be seeking “the moment” as they will never find it… the street photographer should be looking at all the moments and with their camera gathering them up with a cup as you would with water from the river. true street photographers are the curators of time and students of humanity. what they choose reveals themselves. the street photographer more than anything must be alive in their own heart. if they cannot reveal their own truth, they will never find “the moment” in their own photographs…”

this basic workshop is a hybrid of 1.2 introduction to photography and 1.1b introduction to digital cameras. this workshop was design to be flexible and address participant’s complex schedules. sessions are subject to change according the group’s needs and accommodations for individuals will be made where possible.

Builds on core composition principals using form and mass. Course is also an introduction to the value of light as an emotional device. Introduces various digital techniques to achieve film looks with digital files.

Workshop covers how to use your camera effectively and understand what all those buttons are for! Students are instructed on the manual and auto functions of a camera and introduced to white balance and iso usage.